Zimbabwe skipper Brendan Taylor eyes Essex move

Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor hopes to secure a contract with Essex for this year's Twenty20 campaign.

The 26-year-old has played 15 T20 internationals, scoring 373 runs with a strike rate of almost 122.

And he is fresh off a stint with the Chittagong Kings in the inaugural Bangladesh T20 competition.

He told Zimbabwe newspaper News Day that a spell at Chelmsford would be an "exciting opportunity", but Essex have so far refused to confirm the link.

"My recent move to Bangladesh was short but exciting as I managed to be part of the first-ever T20 competition in that country," he said.

"At the moment I'm hoping to secure a move to England with Essex for their T20 competition in June which would be another exciting opportunity."

Taylor, a late call-up for Chittagong, played just two matches in Bangladesh.

He has hit two Test centuries in the last 12 months, leading Zimbabwe to a 130-run victory over Bangladesh with a knock of 105 in Harare last August and hitting 117 in a 34-run loss to New Zealand in Bulawayo three months later.

The right-handed batsman has a total of 791 runs from 14 Test matches and has averaged 34.84 from his 132 one-day international caps.

Essex have already confirmed the signing of Australia pace bowler Peter Siddle for this summer's T20 campaign, which runs from 12 June to 25 August.